Finished Another Book

I just finished reading Mouw's interesting and thought provoking Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport. I wonder how many “theological bigots” would agree with some of what he says. I can’t wait for my friend Bryan to read it and give me his thoughts. Mouw’s goal with the book is to attempt to show how Calvinism is relevant to life in the 21st century, and he does a pretty good job. I’m not sure the book is quite as “lay-level” as he might have hoped, but that is probably more of a comment on the state of teaching in our churches as it is on the book.

One area that I would like to see more well developed is the passage on 114-115 about how Calvinism is weak on ethics. He just sort of throws out the idea, and then suggests that Calvinists should be more humble on ethical matters. I suppose my interest in seeing the topic more well developed comes from the fact that I spend more time thinking about ethics than about Calvinism.

One great takeaway comes from his reference to The Heidelberg Catechism, specifically Heidelberg One:

Q: What is thy only comfort in life and death?

A: That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Savior Jesus Christ; who, with his precious blood, hath fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.

I know this is tangential, but I was thrilled to find his assessment of Las Vegas as “a counterfeit version of the ‘new Jerusalem’.” This is exactly the thought I had when I first visited Vegas, and it was reinforced with every visit.

There is much here with which I agree, and other things which I need to consider further.